Not because DDG got better, but just because google got worse.

google is still better for site-specific searches, and google scholar still has minimal AI slop

  • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    5 minutes ago

    It has been for several years now. I rarely use Google now, and when I do, I’m using it out of DuckDuckGo (!g)

  • umbrella@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    edit-2
    4 hours ago

    ive been using it consistently for the past few years. it works well for me, but sometimes ill go to other engines just to see what they come up with, or when results are lacking. sometimes they are better, sometimes they are worse.

    meaning ddg is probably good enough nowadays, at least for me.

    • irelephant [he/him]🍭@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      3 hours ago

      You probably already know this, but you can use search “bangs” to search other websites from ddg.

      For example, to search google, you would put !g or !google at the start of your search.

      • umbrella@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        1 hour ago

        i do! it transformed my address bar, i sometimes use other engines through ddg now. its the main reason its my search provider.

  • ArchRecord@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    3 hours ago

    I’d say the same. Google dorks work much better than DDG’s filters for site-specific stuff, and generally for things like "search term" but for general searches DDG seems pretty similar.

    The only things I’ve also had worse performance from DDG on compared to Google (in very minimal ways) has been:

    • Highly specific searches (e.g. searching for a diagram of the dimensions of common connector types, DDG shows side-by-sides of connectors, Google does that but also with more diagrams that have dimensions in them)
    • Context but not keyword based searches (e.g. “thing that has x y and z characteristics” returns more relevant results in Google than DDG, very marginally)

    And of course, there’s always the !s bang to run a search through Startpage (which uses Google) if I’m not getting enough detail.

      • AvailableFill74@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        12
        ·
        edit-2
        5 hours ago

        If you wish to be understood, choose your words more carefully. If you wish to be treated with kindness, drop the defensiveness, learn to process feedback objectively, and take communication seriously. No one is being unkind or unreasonable here, except you.

          • AvailableFill74@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            4
            ·
            edit-2
            5 hours ago

            “No one knows what the heck dae means you lazy bum. We invented words for a reason, try using them. If you’re illiterate then maybe try a YouTube video essay. “

            If someone said that, sure… but no one did. Perhaps the Original Poster needs to take communication more seriously and less personally.

            • NιƙƙιDιɱҽʂ@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              5
              ·
              edit-2
              5 hours ago

              I think you’re making a significant deal out of something that is quite minor, personally. It’s okay, though. It’s minor, so we can agree to disagree. Cheers!

                • NιƙƙιDιɱҽʂ@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  3 hours ago

                  Chill out, man. This isn’t parliament. Everything doesn’t have to be communicated as if we’re drafting laws.

                  Communication styles vary greatly, and tone is dependent on setting. What OP posted was completely fine. No need to throw around clown emoji 😝

    • MrMeatballGuy@feddit.dk
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      5 hours ago

      Never saw that abbreviation before, but my assumption is it’s “does anyone else” since I can’t think of anything else that’d make sense in this context

    • NιƙƙιDιɱҽʂ@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      5 hours ago

      DAE is a fairly common acronym on online forums, often used in titles such as these. You could have used Google (or DuckDuckGo) to learn its meaning 😊

      It’s simply “does anyone else.”

  • Psythik@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    3 hours ago

    Definitely not; DDG has always been bad. However, as others have pointed out, Google is getting worse and every day. That said, it’s still better than DDG, which isn’t saying much.

    There are no good search engines anymore. I got tired of having to add site:reddit.com to all or my searches to get actual answers, so now I’ve resorted to using AI and pretending that it isn’t just making up half the shit it spews. Perplexity is a half decent replacement for a search engine; it’s more accurate than most and it cites its sources:

    https://lemmy.world/post/26764870

  • limoncia@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    7 hours ago

    I found Qwant to be a bit better, but yeah. Google got so much worse over last few years

  • Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    7 hours ago

    I really agree Google just took themself out of the market. I wouldn’t be surprised if they dropped their “search” product completely, the way they’ve dropped a lot of other good products along the way.

  • DioEgizio@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    7 hours ago

    yeah honestly I’ve been using ddg for a very long time and while a few years ago I had to frequently !g because search sucked now google got so enshittified many times ddg feels better

  • Luc@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    9 hours ago

    Eyeing the replies, does not one other person here get results constantly flooded with content farms? They’ve gotten significantly worse

    But then, I don’t use Google so maybe this is still better than Google Search?

    It started maybe three years ago, around the same time as LLMs became usable for this, but I’m pretty sure >50% are human-written still. Probably the LLM generates the structure (saves any time they’d have to spend coming up with plausible-sounding texts) and someone from a low-income country is contracted to make it look more legit

    Of course, queries for topics that have a Wikipedia page get Wikipedia first, recipes get tons of big-name recipe sites, products get stores. But when there’s no obvious market around a topic, 3~4 out of 5 results are content farms pretending to have useful information to show unwary visitors ads

    (As an alternative, I still have to try Kagi properly. It seemed on par with DDG when I did a few searches last year, but then their payment processor refused me trying to load my account, support was unhelpful, and I’ve gotten sidetracked since)

    • Skeezix@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      3 hours ago

      The problem with DDG is that when it doesnt find much it simply throws random shit at you. It’s infuriating.

    • inconspicuouscolon@lemy.lol
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      5 hours ago

      I also get those content farms constantly. I don’t want to use google but lately I’ve been using it over duckduckgo more often.

    • Niquarl@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      6 hours ago

      The other annoying thing is the air summaries. I’ve disable AI features but that’s still on. I hate it so much

  • 74 183.84@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    7 hours ago

    Wow, it has been some time since I used duck duck go. On my phone I have bing for searches as it is convenient with chatGPT integration (which tbh I only use when coding, for which I have copilot now baked into VScode). On my laptop and work station I use Arc. Its sexy af and really makes a man wonder about himself. I will have to revisit DDG. I do remember enjoying it though only for enhanced privacy. Feature wise it just seemed exactly what chrome was offering

  • ByGourou@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    13 hours ago

    I really tried, I set duckduckgo as the default for my second browser (I use it a lot) to slowly get used to it, but every time results are so bad I get mad and switch to Google especially for images